Health A Hot Topic On The Internet

comScore, Inc. recently released results of a study showing that the health information site category has grown 21 percent during the past year, more than four times the growth rate of the total U.S. Internet population. In June, more than 1.5 billion display ad views were seen by nearly 54 million people via sites in the health information category.

WebMD Health topped the list of display ad publishers, delivering 290 million display ad views and reaching nearly 15 million people at an average frequency of 19.3 times per visitor during the month.

Three other health networks boosted the overall growth of the category, each attracting more than ten million visitors:

Everyday Health with 14.7 million (up 63%)

Revolution Health Network with 11.3 million visitors (up 182%)

AOL Health with 11.1 million (up 88%)

John Mangano, senior director, comScore Pharmaceutical Marketing Solutions, said. "... sites have become vibrant online communities... sharing experiences and advice, rather than simply being one-way information resources... Improved site functionality, increased content personalization, and consumer acceptance of the Internet... for health information... breathe new life into the health information category,"

While Everyday Health and Revolution Health Network both achieved significant organic growth on their core Web sites, their recent partnerships with several smaller health sites, as well as some strategic acquisitions, have also contributed to their respective gains.

* July 2007 AOL figures reported in the above chart are for AOL Body while the July 2008 figures are for AOL Health

Though the number of unique visitors exposed to advertising at both Revolution Health Network and AOL Health were significantly lower than for WebMD Health, they were reached with a higher frequency. Also noteworthy is that despite Weight Watchers International delivering ads to just 2 million unique visitors, each ad-exposed visitor saw an average of 31 display ads during the month, the highest frequency among the top ten publisher sites in the category.